VOL. XXX March 1947 NO. 3 The Broken Body and Shed Blood St. Peter's Sifting and Conversion Change of Date for Annual Meeting The Broken Body and Shed Blood"My flesh is meat indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed." - John 6:55. BY THE Lord's
instructions many memorials were instituted by the Jews: the "manna, and Aaron's rod
that budded, and the tables of the covenant" kept in the ark; the "two stones
upon the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of memorial for the children of
Israel"; fringes on the garments of the children of Israel that they might
"remember all the commandments and do them"; the censers of Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram "made beaten plates for a covering of the altar ... to be a memorial unto the
children of Israel, to the end that no stranger, that is not of the seed of Aaron, come
near to burn incense before Jehovah," etc., all of which interest us for their
historical value and the spiritual lessons that may be drawn from them; but the one from
which we have received. our greatest inspiration, and the one that was used by our blessed
Master himself as a basis for his parting message, is that of the Passover Supper. With
the lamb of this celebration Jesus identifies himself. The cup which the Jews called the
cup of blessing" he takes as a symbol of his shed blood, but for that purpose blessed
anew; and the unleavened bread a symbol of his broken body. Going back to
the type we see the blood-sprinkled lintels and doorposts, for God had said, "When I
see the blood, I will pass over you." The night had come for Israel's departure from
Egypt. The judgment of God was upon the land and was to be executed. The angel of death
was to pass through and "smite all the first born; but provision had been made for
the safety of God's chosen. "The blood shall be to you a token upon the houses where
ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you." What cause for peace,
consolation, assurance in these words! While they were spoken to the children of Israel
still in Egypt, they come to the child of God still in the "land of the enemy with
added force. There are two
aspects in which we-may view the 'paschal lamb; first, as the ground of peace; and second,
as the centre of unity. The blood on the lintels secured peace., Nothing more was
required. It was not a
question of good works or of merit. It was a question of the Israelite having faith to
believe what God had said, "When I see the blood I will pass over you," and to act upon that faith. So with the
believer today. It is not because of any inherent goodness or merit that he finds peace
with God, but because of simple faith in the power of Jesus' blood to cleanse from sin,
for "though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be
red like crimson, they shall be as wool," when once the blood is applied. The second
aspect of the Passover, that of Christ as the center of our unity, was pictured in the
assembly of Israel gathered in peaceful and holy fellowship, partaking-of the lamb.
Being saved by the blood was one thing, but being gathered round the lamb was quite
another. The blood of the lamb however formed the foundation for both. Just so in
Christian experience. Apart from the atonement of Christ there can be no peace with God
and no fellowship either with God or with his people. It is to a living Christ in heaven
that believers are gathered by the holy spirit,, to a Living Head; "He is our
centre. Having found peace through his blood, we own him as our grand gathering point. The
holy spirit is the only gatherer; Christ himself is the only object to which we are
gathered. The holy spirit can gather only to Christ. It cannot gather to a system, a name,
a doctrine, or set of doctrines. It gathers to a Person, and that Person is a glorified
Christ in heaven." It is our
understanding that it was in the evening of the 14th of Nisan, that is, what we today call
the evening of the previous day, that Jesus ate his last passover with his disciples, and
following it instituted "the Lord's Supper," a memorial of his death,* and, as
Paul adds, our communion, a partnership in his body and blood, saying: "Does not the
consecrated cup which we bless mean that in drinking it we share in the blood of Christ?
Does not the bread which we break mean that in eating it we share in the body of Christ?
Because there is one loaf, we, many as we !are, are one body, for we all share in one
loaf." - E. J.
Goodspeed. --------------------------------------- * According to
the Jewish reckoning, to be celebrated this year after sundown of Thursday, April 3. As the
literal lamb gave strength to the Jews, so we must feed on the mystical Lamb, by faith
accept the merit of his sacrifice that we may be ready for our deliverance in the morning
of the new dispensation. Our bread, the Apostle Paul calls "the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth." To eat that bread means much more than would appear to a
careless examiner. Eating and drinking manifestly indicates our acceptance, not merely
intellectually, but our acceptance, as a moral power for our transformation into his
likeness, for the putting on of Christ, the mind of Christ, by the renewing of our minds.
Drinking the cup signifies that we have accepted Jesus as our life-giver, and that our
utter dependence is on him; also, that we have made a covenant to go into death with
'him. By the eating of the flesh we covenant to "suffer with him," and to
conduct ourselves as become members in, sharers in, the "body of Christ." The eating of
bitter herbs with the Pascal Lamb in symbolism speaks of cheerful endurance (translated
"patience" in the New Testament) of those experiences that are
necessary for the testing of every prospective sharer with him in the bounties of the
Promised Land -- experiences that justly try us "in all points," that there may be
assurance that throughout eternity there will be no unwillingness to fully and joyfully
enter into every plan of the heavenly Father for us. From this proclamation of our desire
to "suffer with him" in whatever way the loving Father shall permit, as pilgrims
and strangers, far from the land of 'his promise and our choice, we go forth with staff in
hand and girt for the journey, carrying our bread with us, and, too often, wandering long
in the wilderness state before finally home is reached. In the typical wandering those who
could not in faith accept joyfully, uncomplainingly, the trying experiences of the
wilderness, found in it their burial place. The fact that only two of the adults who
partook of the lamb and who left Egypt for the promised land reached it, causes us to
pause and consider as to whether we too might not "eat unworthily" of our
Passover Lamb. It was not lack of knowledge, but an "evil heart of unbelief" that caused their bodies to fall in the
wilderness. Let us "take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of us
an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God; but exhort one another day
by day, so long as it is called Today; lest any of us be
hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: for we are become partakers of Christ if
we hold fast the beginning of our confidence unto the end." (Heb. 3:12-14.) According
to the next chapter, "The word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united
by faith with them that heard." They and that faith, as it were, did not become so
inseparably united as to become one. Their trial is past and "Failure" written
in their record; but faith in the antitypical Lamb, which was prefigured in their yearly
memorial that was instituted at their entrance into the wilderness, inspired the Apostle
many generations later to write, "And so all Israel shall be saved." Out -of
their ruin that One who will save will erect a memorial which for eternity will proclaim
that the God of justice is also a God of love, wisdom, and power. With the One
who died as the sacrificial Lamb will be 144,000, who like Caleb and Joshua saw their
enemies, giants in the land so great that the other spies said, "We were in our own
sight as grasshoppers., and so we were in their sight." Also like the two
spies, this faithful company not only see the fruit of the land, but have faith in the One who promised. As one of the
innumerable things provided by our heavenly Guardian that the 144,000 might pass safely
through their wilderness experiences was the Memorial Supper which our Savior instituted
on the last night of his life, building
on the foundation of the yearly Passover celebration and as a substitute for it. "Do
this," he said, "in remembrance of me." "Take, eat; this is my
body." It did appropriately represent him, for it was unleavened bread. "The bread of
God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world." Therefore he
could say, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who
believes in me shall never thirst." "If any one eats of this bread, he will live
for ever." (John 6:33, 35, 51.) (The Revelator tells of a great company who did not
have this satisfaction, but promises for them a future in which they "shall hunger
and thirst no more.")
The partaking of the
unleavened bread at the Memorial Supper means to us primarily that we appropriate by
faith the perfect human life which Jesus laid down, accept the restitution rights and
privileges which Jesus' death made secure for Adam and all his race. "IF WE BE DEAD WITH HIM"Very clearly
the Apostle Paul indicates that in the Memorial Supper we not only yearly commemorate the
death of the Savior of the world, but also proclaim our privilege of being "dead
with him": "I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say, The cup
of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread
which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one
loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the same loaf. Matthew Henry
comments on this passage: "'By
partaking of one broken loaf, the emblem of our Savior's broken body.... we coalesce into
one body, become members of him and one another.' Those who truly partake by faith, have
this communion with
Christ, and one another: and those who eat the outward elements, make profession of
having, this communion of belonging to God, and the blessed fraternity of his people and
worshipers," thus accepting all whom the Lord hath set "in the body as it hath
pleased him." "It
will help us to see the connection of thought here to remember that the words translated
'communion' in this verse (1 Cor. 10:16), 'partakers,' (ver. 18), and 'fellowship' (ver.
20), are all forms of the same Greek word. This word means communion, association,
fellowship; and the genitive after it may denote either the persons or things with which
one is associated, or that in which they are associated and have part together. Now if we
examine the argument, we find that it is here the fellowship or association with the
blood and body of Christ that is meant. In the second analogy used, the Israelites, by
eating the sacrifices, are represented as partaking with thee altar-i.e., as consuming one
part, while the altar consumes the other part of the sacrifices. And in the conclusion,
those who eat the idol-sacrifices are represented in the same way, as in fellowship with
demons. So that here, in the other analogy of the Lord's Supper, it must be fellowship
with some thing or person that will keep up the correspondence between all the cases,
that forms the basis of the argument. ' Some suppose that the fellowship is with believers
and in the body of Christ. But this supposes that the point of the argument-viz., that
with which we are associated in the Supper, is left out by Paul. Moreover, in the parallel
cases, it is not the association with the worshipers, but with the object of worship, that
is pointed out. The consistency of the several parts of the argument requires,
therefore, that we understand here fellowship with the blood of Christ to be meant. But in
what sense? It is evident from the passages (Matt. 26:26 seq., 1 Cor. 11:23 seq., John
6:51 seq.), which give the history and explanation of the Lord's Supper, that these
-symbols represent the sacrificial death of Christ, and that, therefore, fellowship with
the body and blood of Christ,, is fellowship with the Lord in his death. The partaking of
these emblems brings us into this fellowship. But as the emblems are symbols, not the real
body and blood of the Lord, so our eating and drinking are symbolic acts, representing the
faith by which this fellowship is really accomplished. - Cf. John 6:51, 53, 54, 56, 57,
58, with ver. 35, 40, 47." - American Commentary. The above
seems to us to corroborate what we find on page R5342 of the Reprints: "There
is a difference, we believe, maintained in the Scriptures between the bread, which
symbolizes the Lord's flesh, and the wine, which symbolizes his blood. The Church, in
order to be accepted of the Lord as members of his glorified body, must share in both of
these by participation. The loaf, as the Apostle explains, not only represents to us our
Lord, as the Bread of Life necessary for us, but it also represents us as his members to
be broken as our Lord was broken; and the wine represents not only our Lord's blood, but
also the blood of the Church-that we are sharers with him in his sacrificial sufferings.
- 1 Cor. 10:16,17. "The
privilege of sharing our Lord's cup is not for -the world. They will not share in the
sufferings of Christ, because all opportunity to share in his sufferings and glory will
have ended when the Church is glorified. The Lord said, 'Drink ye all of it'--drink it
all. There will be none for the world to drink. And we who are of the Church class 'fill
up that which is [left] behind of the afflictions of Christ.' - Col. 1:24." Shortly
before instituting the Memorial Supper the Master offered his intercessory prayer for all
who should be of his body, "That they all may be one," "As thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." (John 17; 20,21.) This
can have reference only to the oneness of spirit that Paul "begs" us to be
"eager to maintain, the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace," that we may
"lead a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called, with all lowliness
and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love." (Eph. 4:1-3.) If an
honest desire for such a unity is not in the heart of one who partakes of the Lord's
Supper, he at least has failed to note the way in which the Lord has asociated the two
thoughts. "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an
unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body as well as the blood of the Lord.
Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.' For any one who
eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment upon
himself." - 1 Cor. 11:27-29. WHO MAY PARTAKE?The answer
of inspiration is that no one should partake unworthily. In this the Apostle was not
forgetting that "there is none righteous, no not one"; but he is remembering
that "we are acceptable in the Beloved," and only by faith can we be
"accepted" "living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God." "Let
a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup." (1
Cor 11:29.) "Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith," or apparently
more exactly: Examinee yourselves, to 'see whether you are holding 'to your faith.
"Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed you
fail to meet the test!" (2 Cor. 13:5, R.S.V.) "If we say we have fellowship with
him [in the bread, or in the cup, or in any way] while we walk in darkness, we lie and do'
not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all
,sin." - 1 John 1:6,7, R.S.V. It was
immediately following the institution of the Memorial that Jesus warned Peter:
"Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat," and added the
consolation: "But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you
have turned again, strengthen your brethren." This was said to the weak, impetuous
Peter, who thought he was able to follow the Lord
into any experience. But instead Jesus told him: "The cock will not crow, till you
have denied me thrice." Perhaps it was in part for us that Peter was permitted so
drastic a demonstration of his weakness, and for us, as well as for him, that the very
next words recorded are: "Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God; believe
also in .me" - the God whose "mercy endureth forever," and the Son,
"who ever liveth to make intercession for us." - John 13:38; 14:1; Heb. 7:25. In the words
of another: "Beloved
brethren, let us 'meditate on these things.' We have tasted, through grace, the cleansing
efficacy of the blood of Jesus; as such it is our privilege to feed upon his adorable
Person and delight ourselves in his unsearchable riches'; to have fellowship
in his sufferings and be made conformable to his death. Oh! let us, therefore, be seen
with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs, the girded loins, the shoes, and staff. In a
word, let us be marked as a holy people, a crucified people, a watchful and diligent
people -a people manifestly 'on our way to God' -- on our way to glory -- 'bound for the
Kingdom.' May God grant us
to enter into the depth
and power of all these things; so that they may not be mere theories, in our intellects --
mere principles of Scriptural knowledge and interpretation; but living, divine realities,.
known by experience, and exhibited in the life, to the glory of God." - P E Thomson. The Shadow and the Substance"Let
no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath
day which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is Christ's." "For the
law having a shadow of the good ... to come, not the very
image of the thin gs [literally, practices] can never . . make perfect them that draw
nigh." - Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:1. THE SCHISMS
that for nineteen hundred years have rent the Church of Jesus Christ into differing and
often antagonistic factions have been almost invariably over opinions and interpretations
of Holy Writ, not concerning its simple essentials: viz., the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus; the High Calling; and holy living. In the early
Church, largely Jewish, the differences arose mainly from questions of Jewish law,
tradition and procedure, as
indicated by the verse
from the Epistle to the Colossians, quoted above. In these last days of the Age, in a more
sophisticated and abstractly thinking society, the "bones of contention" are
principally of a philosophical character, and not of behavior or procedure. They chiefly
concern what the believers think, not what they do. But almost
always the ones who are responsible for the quarrels and divisions are "the
angels" (i.e., messengers, the leaders) whom the flock mistakenly 'worship" and
follow in their divisive course, as the Apostle indicates in the verses following the
above. (Col. 2:18-23.) The seriousness of the consequences of this mistaken attitude, to
the Christian who is earnestly seeking to make his "calling and ,election sure,"
is plainly stated by the Apostle. "Let no man rob you of your prize." Such a
disastrous possibility bids us pause and carefully consider
our own position. "Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith: prove your own
selves." (2 Cor. 13:5.) The Apostle is telling each of us: Do not be too sure you are right! WHAT IS THE TRUE FAITH?What is
"the faith" of which the Apostle writes? Is it a code of doctrines, or any doctrine? Nowhere in the Scriptures is it so presented. "Faith"
translates the Greek word pistis. No reliable dictionary of New
Testament Greek defines this word as meaning a creed or belief; no lexicon of quotations
from ancient Greek writers includes any such usage. The definition given by Professor
James Strong is this: "Pistis,
(from, peitho, to convince) persuasion, i.e. credence; morally, conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a
religious teacher), especially- reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, confidence in such profession." Professor
Strong adds: "By extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself.'' This
definition, except the last sentence, agrees with the inspired definition of Hebrews 11:1:
"Faith is the basis of things hoped for, a
conviction of things not seen." Thus it is seen that faith is wholly a mental attitude. It is based on and involves belief,
but is never the thing believed. Those cited in the 12th chapter of Hebrews as examples of
outstanding heroes of faith certainly had no code -of doctrinal belief; but did have great
confidence in and reliance on God. Dr. Strong
says pistis, faith, has been extended to mean "the system of religious
(Gospel) truth itself. That is not what it means in New Testament Greek, however. Its
"extension" to include the thing believed has been made by creed-makers and
sectarians, to give Biblical authority to their own opinions and interpretations. To the
Roman Catholic "the Faith" is the mass of Roman Catholic dogmas; to each
Protestant sect it is its own particular creed. It behooves the earnest truth-seeker to
gain a clear conception
of the meaning of
"the faith" of the New Testament, and to purge his mind of any trace of this
sectarian "extension" of significance. What then
does Jude (verse 3) mean when he urges "them that are called . . . and kept for Jesus
Christ", to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered
unto the saints"? To this the Scriptural answer can only be, to fight against
the subversive tendencies of "the world, the flesh, and the devil," which would
rob the saint of his basic "hope" and "confidence" in the Father,, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and his own High Calling. A careful examination of every text in the
New Testament in which "faith" appears as a translation- -of pistis, will accomplish
the highly important result of enabling the student intelligently to "examine
'himself, whether lie be in the faith." THE FUNDAMENTAL DEFINITIONSIt is
passing strange that Christian teachers should have so long and so greatly complicated the
subjects of the true faith and of "sound doctrine," when the Scriptures are so
simple and so explicit in precisely defining their essentials. A few only of these
Scriptural definitions -- a catechism of fundamental theology leave the creedmaker, the
sectarian, and the exclusivist no weakest leg to stand upon! -- For example: (1) What
is the true faith? Answer:
"Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen." -
Heb. 11:1. (2) What
is true religion? Answer:
"Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the
world." - James 1:27. (3) What
is the Kingdom of God? Answer: "The Kingdom of God is
not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." -
Rom. 14:17. (4)
"What must we do that we may work the works of God?" Answer: "This is
the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." - John 6:28, 29. (5) What
must be believed in order to come to God? Answer: "He that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him."
"This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus
Christ." "Jesus saith . I am the way, the truth and the life: no one cometh unto
the Father, but by me." - Heb. 11:6; 1 John 3:23; John 14:6. (6) What
is God's will for you? Answer: "This is the will of
God, even your sanctification." - 1 Thess. 4:3. (7) What
are God's requirements for entering his Kingdom? Answer: "Adding on your part all
diligence, in your faith supply virtue .. . knowledge . . . self-control . .. patience . .
. godliness ... brotherly-kindness love... . if ye do these things ye shall never stumble: (8) What
will admit the believer to a share in Christ's throne? Answer: "If we died with
him; we shall also live - with him; if we endure [suffering] we shall reign with
him." "Ye are they that have continued with me in my temptations [trials]; and I
appoint unto you a Kingdom . . . and ye shall sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes
of Israel." "He that overcometh I will give to sit down with me in my
throne." - 2 Tim. 2:11,12; Luke 22:28,29; Rev. 3:21. (9) What
are the things which will debar inheritance of the Kingdom? Answer: "The works of
the flesh . fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities,
strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like . . . they who practise such things shall not inherit the
Kingdom of God." -Gal. 5:19-21. (10) How
may we know that we are of the Truth? Answer: "Little Children, let us
love not in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and in truth. Hereby shall we know
we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him." - 1 John 3:18, 19. The
Scriptures quoted in this (entirely unofficial) Catechism are not the only ones answering
these fundamental, comprehensive, and supremely important questions. But no one can deny
that they contain a statement of all the essentials of salvation and the divine preferment
promised the successful Christian race-runner, as well as a plain warning of the
consequences of non-conformity thereto. They are binding provisions of a solemn covenant
of marriage, extended by the Father to the prospective members of his Son's Bride.
Acceptance and compliance on the part of the candidate for membership- in that exalted
Body is all that is required by the Father and the Son. Dare any who claim to
recognize the Bible as their only creed add any other requirement to these fundamentals as
the basis of fellowship and joint service with other Christians? The Apostle substantially
answers this question in Galatians 3:15: "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men:
Though it be but a man's covenant, yet when it hath been confirmed, no one maketh it void
or addeth thereto." "IF BY ANY MEANS . . ."But some one
may logically ask: "If these fundamentals include all that is necessary to
salvation, why did the Lord set forth so much more in the Scriptures? What relationship
have all the types, shadows, prophecies, promises, and exhortations therein, to the
essential doctrine of Christ? These things seem not to simplify but to amplify and
complicate the plan of salvation. How should we appraise them, if not as essentials?" The
Scriptures themselves answer these questions, either specifically or by implication. The
non-essential teaching (doctrine) of Scripture is designed to accomplish at least four
purposes, Viz.: (1) To
explain and adorn in various ways the essentials of God's Plan, so as to make it more
attractive to and assimilable by the various temperaments and mentalities
("tribes") of men. This is just
as it is in the physical world. An abundant variety of foods are supplied, to satisfy
every healthy appetite and need. No man requires nor can eat even a portion of everything
in the world that is good- for food, though some foolish men are said to have tried it. No
student of the Scriptures can comprehend, nor needs to assimilate, every teaching of the
Bible; it is impossible in one short lifetime. The Father
"openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing." The Son, as
the Father's plenipotentiary to mankind, proved his right to primacy by becoming "the
servant of all." The Apostle Paul writes of his own ministry: "To the Jew I
became as a Jew . . . to them that are under the law as under the law . .. to them that
are without law, as without law.. . . To the weak I became as weak: I became all things
to all men that I may by all means save some." "Some indeed
preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will.. .. What then? only
that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ
is proclaimed; and therein I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." - Psalm 145:16; Mark
10:42-45; 1 Cor. 9:20-22; Phil. 1:15-18. None other
can be, as was the Lord, "the servant of all"; few can hope to emulate the Great
Apostle in serving the brethren by becoming "all things to all men"; accordingly
it must be recognized that in the Church, as St. Paul explains: "There are
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations
and the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh
all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit
withal." This exhortation of the Apostle might be paraphrased:
How free
from partisan narrowness or exclusivism are these words of the Apostle; as were Jesus'
instructions to his disciples: "John said . . . Master, we saw one casting out
demons in thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. But Jesus said
unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against you is for you." (Luke 9:49,
50.) How hard it is for us all to see that if others are preaching the "sound
doctrine of God and the Lord Jesus Christ;" though they are not "following with
us" they are "for us" - "on our side" - and that regarding all
such we should heed the Apostle's earnest words, emphasizing the "any": "If
therefore there is any
exhortation in Christ,
if any persuasion of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, make
full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one ac cord, of
one mind; ... in lowliness of mind each accounting other better than himself; not
looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the
things of others." "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: but each
shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow-workers:
ye are God's husbandry, God's building." - Phil. 2:1-4; 1 Cor. 3:8, 9. (2)
Specifically, the variety of Scriptural teaching is designed to exercise the disciple in
discrimination, so that he may differentiate the essential
from the non-essential in their application to his own needs, and to his fellowship with
the brethren, and so perfect a mature character qualification. "There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man," writes King Solomon the Wise, "But the end thereof are the
ways of death." The disciple who fails to discriminate between essentials and
non-essentials and confuses the two, is in great danger of finding himself in such case as the
Wise Man describes. "Solid food is for full-grown men, even those who by reason of
use have their senses exercised- to discern good and evil." The difference
has been hard for many Christians to discern. "Even Satan fashioneth 'himself into
-an angel of light. It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion
themselves as ministers of righteousness." "By their fruits ye shall know them." - Prov.
14:12; Heb. 5:14; 2 Cor. 11:14, 15; Matt. 7:15, 16. (3) A
variety of instruction is given in Holy Writ to prepare each successful candidate for the
High Calling, for his particular work as a member of the Body in the future Kingdom: All
disciples do not need all Scriptures equally, for their special development. St. Paul
tells us that "one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the
resurrection of the dead." Jesus explained to the doting mother who petitioned for
her two sons the two chief places in the Kingdom next to him, that these honors were not
for him to bestow. He said: "To sit on my right hand and on my left . . is for them
for whom it bath been prepared of my Father." "In a great house," St. Paul
writes Timothy, "there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood
and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor [or, less honor]." The
Revelator prophesies of
some who "die in the Lord" that they "may rest from their labors ... their
works follow with them." (1 Cor. 15:41; Matt. 20:20-25; 2 Tim. 2:20; Rev. 14:13.) All
these indicate opportunities of service directly under the eye of God himself; education
for special assignments under an infinitely more liberal and comprehensive G. I. (God
Issued) "Bill of Rights"; and possibilities of preferment and promogtion in the
service of the King of kings that, rightly evaluated, fire the imagination and
challenge the aspirations of the most ambitious and high-minded of men. The emoluments-
and rewards of earth do not compare for a moment with those offered in the divine service.
"Our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more
exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." - 2 Cor. 4:17. (4) The non-essential portions of
Scriptural teaching are intended to serve as excuses for divisions. The attitude of the
individual Christian in the presence of such divisions manifests the righteousness of
the Lord's judgment as to the candidate's fitness for membership in his mystic Body for
"many are called but few chosen." -- Jesus: Matthew 22:14. St. Paul
states the necessity and reason for divisions in the Church, in so many words: "I
hear that divisions exist among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also
factions among you, that they that are approved may be
made manifest among you." (1 Cor. 11:18, 19.) It would not seem just .on the part of
the Divinity, in issuing a general invitation to believers to strive for participation
in the heavenly Kingdom, to state any of the essential stipulations or qualifications in
language that could be misunderstood. Hence, as we have seen, there is no possibility of
misunderstanding the indispensable requirements and qualifications for membership. But the
great volume of supplemental and contributory teaching of the Scriptures affords ample
opportunity for differences of opinion, "parties, divisions, factions," which
often 'have been fanned into "wraths, jealousies, strife, enmities, sometimes
culminating in persecutions, murders, heretic-burning, and bitter wars. Certainly none of
these can be "practiced" (the word in Galatians 5:21 means "performed
repeatedly or habitually") by those who would be members of the Body of Jesus Christ;
and, as we might expect, the Apostle solemnly warns that such "cannot inherit the
Kingdom of God." The
indispensable graces of unity and tolerance can be acquired only in association with those
with whom we do not fully agree. They must be practiced in spite of differences of,
opinion which will inevitably arise. They are the ripe fruit of love, while divisions
and exclusivism are always evidence of lack of brotherly love, whatever doctrinal excuse
be made. There is no difficulty or test in maintaining unity with those who agree with us:
there is no opportunity here for developing tolerance. The fellowship of congenial
brethren is naturally valuable to us; they are "honorable" and
"strong" in our estimation. But again the understanding, Great Apostle
'admonishes us: "Nay, much rather those members of the Body which seem to be more-feeble
are necessary [to the proper development of the others]: and those parts of the body,
which we think to be less honorable [valuable] upon these [if we heed the Apostle] we
bestow more abundant honor: and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness; whereas
our comely parts have no need: but God tempered
the Body together, giving more abundant honor [value] to that part which lacked
[comeliness]; that there should be no schism in the Body; but that the members should have
the same care one for another." - 1 Cor. 12:22-25. So we see
that Christian unity is always perfected on the basis of the essentials of doctrine and
character-development, in adherence to the Seven Unities of Ephesians 4:3. The
non-essentials which have been the ostensible reasons for divisions among the consecrated
brethren of the present Harvest time are, as always, convictions that are very precious
and important to those who have participated in the controversies and separations. To
hold as secondary these personal convictions in order to maintain unity on the essentials
as urged in the Scriptures, is indeed a searching
test of Christian character. THE HARVEST TEST -- SHADOW OR SUBSTANCEThese
controversial convictions involve the shadows, not the substance, of Scriptural
teaching. The substance
of the
"doctrine of Christ" is contained in the New Testament; the shadows of "the good things to come"
are represented in the types, symbols, and similitudes of the Old Testament. Only the
substance, or reality, the Writer to the Hebrews declares, can "make perfect them
that draw nigh." The reason is that the shadow is never "the very image"
of the reality. Yet Christian teachers still insist on a dogmatic acceptance of the faint
"shadow" as a basis for full recognition of fellow Christians, even though the
substance of the New Testament reality is accepted and acted upon by the brethren who
are excluded. For example,
all Bible Students agree that the day of Atonement of Israel under the Law, was a shadow
of 'the Gospel Age substance. Difference of opinion centers on the question of the exact
significance of certain sacrifices, particularly that of the Lord's Goat. Did this
represent the sacrifice of the Church, or not? The actuality of the Church's sacrifice must be
admitted by all, because it is plainly stated in the teaching of the New Testament.
Jesus said: "Whosoever doth not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my
disciple"; and he appointed the Kingdom honors to "ye . . . who have continued
with me in my temptations." The Apostle John writes: "Hereby know we love, because he laid down
his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." St. Paul
beseeches the "brethren" to "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God"; and declares that "if, we died with him, we shall also
live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him." The Great Apostle
desires for himself above all else "the fellowship of [Christ's] sufferings,
becoming conformed unto his death," that he may share his superior resurrection.
Finally, the Revelator sees in the vision of the glorified Church on the heavenly Mount
Zion, only those who "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." (Luke 14:27;
22:28-30; 1 John 3:16; Rom. 12:1; 2 Tim. 2:12; Phil. 3:10, 11, 21; Rev. 14:1-5.) These
passages are unequivocal and indisputable. They furnish a full and complete basis for the
highest and most intimate Christian fellowship. They are the substance-the "form of
sound words" - concerning the Church's sacrifice, which all Christians accept. In
spite of this shall we make the shadow of this reality a separating dogma, and on
its basis deny some of our brethren our full fellowship, which
includes the privilege of the Eldership, if they are qualified? Another
artificial basis for separation among the Lord's people, now happily being disregarded by
many, is a difference of language used in describing the covenant or
arrangement through which the Lord has been accepting and blessing the followers of Jesus
during the Gospel Age. Some hold in effect that this arrangement is the first part or
paragraph of the "New Covenant" prophesied by Jeremiah (31:31-34), the second
part or paragraph becoming operative in the next, the Millennial Age. Others say:
"No; the two parts or paragraphs of which you speak are really two separate
Covenants, operative respectively in the Gospel and the Millennial Ages; the latter only
being properly called the "New Covenant." The
proponents of both sides of this question agree on what is being and is to be accomplished
in these two Ages. The substance is indisputable
and admitted; the shadow -- a matter of types and names -- is the basis of
controversy and divisions. How childish we will all realize such differences to be, when
we achieve the clear vision to be ours beyond the veil! THE PAROUSIAThe doctrine
of the secret parousia or presence of the Lord in the end of the Gospel Age, before he
takes to himself his power and reigns as king of earth, is most illuminating and
stimulating to those who really believe it; but it is a deduction based on interpretations
of Scriptural chronology and prophesied signs, concerning which it is quite possible to
have a reasonable difference of opinion. It is therefore, of course, not set forth in the
Scriptures as a criterion of orthodoxy -- a valid reason for division in the Church; nor
is its belief a Scriptural qualification for Eldership. Our Lord
promised to be with his Church "always, even unto the end of the Age";
"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them." Indeed he declared "Without me ye can do nothing." (Matt.
28:20; 18:20; John 15:5.) At other times, throughout the Gospel Age, earnest saints have
exhorted their brethren to "practice the presence of Christ." The most sincere
believer in "the Presence" as "Present Truth" in the end of the Age
would have difficulty in explaining the practical difference to a Christian,
between his Lord being "with him" throughout the Age, and "present" in
the end of the Age. To draw this distinction it is necessary to be very technical and
theoretical. There is a Scriptural test in this connection,
however; it is not belief in a technicality, but a true measure of our loyalty and
devotion to our Head. This
test is stated by the Apostle Paul, and it is a
very practical one. In his last recorded message, sent through Timothy to all the
brethren, he said: "The crown of righteousness [a righteous crowning] is laid up . .
for all them that have loved his appearing. (2 Tim. 4:8.) All those who have been
close followers of Jesus throughout the Age, as St. Peter also expresses it, have
"looked for and hastened [in expectation] unto the coming of the day of the
Lord." (2 Peter 3:12.) This searching test suggested by the Apostles Paul and
Peter may be profitably applied to themselves by each of the Lord's people: Do I
truly look forward to the end of my earthly life and to meeting my Lord
with pleasurable anticipation? Can I submit my life and particularly my attitude toward
all the brethren to his searching gaze, with confidence in his approval? This is the
Scriptural test the Scriptures nowhere justify the requirement of belief in the dogma of
"the Parousia" as a qualification either for fellowship or for Eldership in
the Church. In the old
days it was a very serious offense to draw sword "in the Presence" of an earthly
king, except by his direct command. The offender was subject to immediate arrest and
imprisonment "at the pleasure of the king." If we profess belief in the Presence
of our great King, how much more serious is it for one of us to draw sword against our
brother, because we think him partially blind! But how
embarrassed we will be if, when we enter the presence of our King beyond the veil, we find that through neglect or
disregard of the -"signs," we have failed to recognize our King's
presence during the Harvest time, particularly if we have been critical of those who did
profess to recognize it! Surely the
earnest prayer of those who hold to the belief in the actual parousia should be that, if
it indeed be true, they might through loving, patient, and (if necessary) long-continued
fellowship with those who do not so believe, be used of the Lord in enlightening such
brethren on the subject. On the other hand, those who have not been able to accept the
presence of the Lord as an established fact, should sincerely desire and continually pray
the Lord that if he is indeed present "gathering his jewels" they might be
enabled to recognize it. And none should express a settled conviction on a subject of
such importance until he has carefully examined all of the twenty-odd occurrences of the
word "parousia" in their contexts in the New Testament; and then we should all heed the Apostle's warning:
"Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth. If any man thinketh that he knoweth
anything, he knoweth not yet as he ought to know." For "the letter killeth, but
the spirit giveth life." - 1 Cor. 8:2; 2 Cor. 3:6. It is a
lamentable fact that most of the Bible Students of the antitypical "Laodicea"
- the present stage of the Church (we think) , are re-enacting the tragic folly of the
entire Age. They are exchanging the substance of "the faith" for the shadow of
dogma, their birthright for a "mess of pottage" - the latter good to eat, but a poor bargain at the
price. Who will be held by the Head as most responsible for this sad condition? Let the
Prophet of the Lord reply: "Therefore
thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep
and the lean sheep. Because ye thrust with the side and with the shoulder, and push all
the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore
will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and
sheep. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant
David [meaning 'the Beloved,' Christ]; he shall feed them, and he shall be their
shepherd.... And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their
yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that made bondmen of them. ... And
ye, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord
Jehovah." - Ezek. 34. Let all who
are tempted to disparage a brother's spiritual gift, his spiritual attainments or
activities, thus assuming superiority, prayerfully consider this solemn warning from the
Lord through his Prophet of old. No earthly success, accomplishments or emoluments will be
of any value or consolation or satisfaction if, "when the Chief Shepherd shall
appear" in fulfillment of the prophecy, those who claim "great and wonderful
works" performed "in his name" are disowned as members of his Bride, and
denied the "crown of glory that fadeth not away" because they "lorded it
over his heritage" as the strong and "fat sheep" of the earthly flock. - 1
Peter 5:4. - H. E. Hollister. [N. B. - If
interested in further research and comparison, please see following articles: DOCTRINES
MORE OR LESS IMPORTANT - Reprints, p R5284, W. T. August, 1913. THE EPISTLE
OF CHRIST-Reprints, p. R5967, W. T. October 1, 1916. THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION-Reprints, p. R5981, W. T
November 1,
1916. Also: The
New Creation, pp. F240-F242.] St. Peter's Sifting and Conversion"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan path desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and
when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." - Luke 22:31, 32. THE WORDS of
our text, as all will recall, were spoken by our Lord in the "upper room" just
before he instituted the "Memorial" which we celebrate each spring. In our
Authorized Version the meaning and effect of the passage are somewhat obscured. A better
translation is given by Weymouth, who renders it: "Simon, Simon, I tell you that
Satan has obtained permission to have all of you to sift as wheat is sifted. But I have
prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and you, when at last you have come back to
your true self, must strengthen your brethren." ALL TO BE SIFTED--NOT PETER ONLYFrom this
translation it will be seen that not only Peter but all of them were to be sifted. Our
Lord's prayer, however, was for Peter. "I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. Why this was so, we hope to see as our meditation
progresses. In thus
warning the disciples of their danger, our Lord lifted, as it were, the curtain which
hides the invisible world from us. Just as in the case of job, Satan was seen seeking
permission to test that worthy one, so Jesus sees Satan earnestly begging permission -nay,
even as having secured permission of God to test these, His chosen ones. Satan, who has already, by Judas' own consent,
obtained full possession of his heart, is now preparing for an attack
on the others whose heart-loyalty he had so far, never disturbed, but over whom he now hoped to obtain the
mastery. As God's sieve-holder, so to speak, Satan had asked that they all be put in the
sieve, and be thoroughly shaken -his hope being to find them, at the last, not wheat, but
chaff, no better at heart than Judas. Then would he have them all for his own. Such sifting
would not hurt any true wheat, although it would separate any chaff which might cling to
it. Now Peter was true wheat at heart, but there remained much chaff in him, and from the
fact that he was also prominent -- a leader of the others -- and that therefore much
depended on him, Peter was to be the most severely shaken of any. Satan knew Peter well,
counted on his fall, hoped it would be permanent, and that through his fall he would overcome and
permanently scatter the rest. Jesus therefore addresses him as the one peculiarly
exposed, and through him, as the mouth or representative of the company, the others. But Peter
was not ready for the warning. Instead of being overwhelmed by the fear of any impending
fall, he is sure he will stand firm as a rock. "I am ready to go into prison and into
death for Thee." But Jesus knew better, and, as we know, foretold him of his coming
fall. "Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily I say unto thee, Peter, that
before the cock shall crow twice, 'thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." PETER A MIXTURE OF STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSSt. Peter is
so human, his character presents that same mixture of strength and weakness which we find in ourselves, that of all the
Apostles he is the one likely to appeal to us most. Of some of them we know so little that
we can be said to scarcely know them at all. And on the other hand those with whose
characters we are acquainted--James, for instance, and John, and Paul -- seem to have made
such remarkable progress in the school of Christ; they have followed, the paths of
righteousness with so steady a purpose, and such consistent faithfulness, that while we
greatly admire them, we are apt to look up to them as having reached heights
which we can hardly hope to attain. But it is not so with Peter, great as he is. He seems
to be more on our level, travels by the path we tread, wanders from it, and stumbles in
it, as we ourselves wander and stumble. His very faults endear him to us hardly less than
his virtues. They are so entirely natural, so closely akin to the faults of which we are
conscious in ourselves, that fellow-feeling makes us kind and lenient in our judgment of
them and of him. His impulsiveness, and self-confidence, his passionate zeal, his
promptness to speak and to strike, all serve to engage our interest, our compassion, our
sympathy, and make us feel more at home with him than with men of a nature more finely
balanced and composed. He has plenty of faults, but they are not mean and petty. As we
study them carefully, we find that for the most part they result from impulses and
emotions that are good in themselves, but carried to 'excess. The important quality of self-control is
lacking. Such natures
are very lovable, but they lie open to many perils. And it is not until they have been
subjected to testing and trial, and successfully endured temptations, and been approved
of the Lord, that they can be greatly used in the Master's service. PETER NO WORSE THAN THE OTHERSBut though
the impulsive, self-confident tempera meat has special dangers of its -own, it does not
follow that on the whole it is more perilous
than other temperaments, cast in a different mold. Certainly Peter did not fall lower-he
did not fall quite so low as his fellow Apostles did, although the common belief is that
he did. Their promises of loyalty to Christ were as confident as his; their unfaithfulness
to their vow of loyalty
took place sooner than his. When our Lord warned the Eleven: "All ye shall be
offended in me this night," if Peter was the first to say: "Though I should die
with thee, I will not deny thee," yet we are expressly told that so "likewise
said they all." If Peter denied him in the hall of judgment, they did not even follow him to the hall,
did not stop to be questioned--denying him in deeds, which speak louder than words, even
before Peter denied him with oaths and curses. If when he was led away captive by the
soldiers, they "all
forsook him and
fled," Peter was the first to recover himself in that shameful flight, and while they scattered every one to his own, he at
least followed Jesus "afar off" to see what would be done unto him. In short,
they fell before Peter fell, and more utterly than lie fell, as Jesus had said they would. For what he really recorded and
foretold in our text, was that, while Satan had obtained permission to try and sift them all, Christ had prayed that Peter's faith might not wholly fail, that he might be the first to recover from
their common fall, in order that when he was converted, he might strengthen his
brethren. Rather than think of him, then, as weaker and worse than his brethren, we should
think of him as the last to forsake his Master, and as the first to reclimb the heights of
faith; as the one who, having come back to his true self, as Weymouth's choice phrase puts
it, was a fit instrument in the Lord's, hands to strengthen his brethren. SELF-CONFIDENCE MUST BE DISPLACED BY HUMILITYLet us now
consider the passage attentively, to learn, first, what it was that was sifted out of
Peter, and second, how it was sifted out of him. First, then,
what was it that was sifted out of Peter? This may be told in few words. The cause and
spring of the most obvious defects in the Apostle's character was that large and assured
confidence in himself which made him so quick to speak, so prompt to act. But throughout
the Scriptures self-confidence is everywhere shown to be the opposite of faith or
confidence in God. Everywhere there, too, we are taught that God dwells only with those of
a humble, lowly, contrite heart. If, therefore, God was to take up his abode with Peter,
if the impulsive and ardent strength of the man was to be schooled into steadfastness, and
hallowed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in order that, being himself led and
controlled by the mind of Christ, he might rightly lead his brother Apostles during those
first critical months in which the foundations of the Church were to be laid-then,
obviously his self-confidence must be purged out of him, and be replaced by the humility
with which God delights to dwell. On no other terms could he be fitted for the work to which he
was called. And therefore it was that Satan "obtained" him, that is, obtained
permission to sift and purge self trust out of him. If the process was severe, the task
and honor for which it prepared him were great, and greatness is not to be achieved on easy terms. If we are tempted to think
the process too severe, let us ask ourselves whether any milder process would have
sufficed. HUMILITY DIFFICULT TO ACQUIREThat point
is one which is easy to decide. We all know ' men who think a good deal of their own
opinions, and who have a very good opinion of themselves; self-confident men, always
ready with their advice and censure, however difficult and complicated that may be of
which they speak, and however ignorant of it they may be; men who believe, apparently,
that all the world is out of step, and that they were born to set it right; men who assume
to teach, to judge, to rebuke, even those whom, when pushed, they acknowledge to be far
wiser and better than themselves PETER'S SELF CONFIDENCE CONSPICUOUS
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